[Born in Paris, 1771. Died there, 1835. Aged 64.]
One of the most distinguished of David’s pupils. Appalled by the horrors
of the first Revolution, he quitted France, and withdrew to Geneva;
thence to Milan, where he became known to Buonaparte, by whom he was
countenanced and employed. He followed the army for six years, and
returned to France in 1801. Then painted several pictures commemorative
of Napoleon’s military achievements. He enjoyed ample patronage under
both the Emperor, and the Restoration; but in his later years he fell
into melancholy; and one morning his body was found in the Seine. His
compositions are remarkable for boldness and facility of invention; but
his colouring is frequently exaggerated. His subjects, too, though
invariably treated with power, degenerate occasionally into vulgarity
and theatrical display. His best picture is “The Plague at Jaffa.” He
was a man of cultivated mind, and passionately fond of music.
[From the marble in the Louvre, by Debay Sen., 1827.]